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To understand how a pressure cooker works, you need to know just a little about physics. Simply put, water boils at 212 Farenheit. At this point, no matter how long you continue to boil, it always stays the same temperature. As the water evaporates and becomes steam it is also the same temperature, 212 F.

The only way to make the steam hotter (and/or to boil the water at a higher temperature) is to put the system under pressure. This is what a pressure cooker does. Steam has six times the heat potential when it condenses on a cool food product. This increased heat transfer potential is why steam is such an effective cooking medium.

If you put water into a pot and cover it with a tightly sealed lid, the steam will remain trapped and pressure will build and that rises the temperature at which the liquid will boil. So at 15psi your food is cooking at about 250 instead on just 212

Consider the difference in cooking power between an oven and steamer in this example. You can put your hand in a 400[degrees]F oven and not burn yourself but put your hand over a boiling tea kettle and the 212[degrees]F steam will scald immediately. This is due to the different methods of heat transfer: air is a poor conductor; water is a good conductor. Think of being outside when it's 70 degrees F (quite pleasant) versus being in a pool of water at 70 degrees (feels very cold).

Anno please give me any advice on how to reword that. I feel that it is clear but maybe not any help you could give would be honored. I think people need to know the reasons why microwave sterilization does not work but pasteurizing in microwave may

you know whats useless you telling me that. i know water wont go to 500 degrees hmmm let me see i have a stove that says 500 degrees on it hmmmm i place this jub of water in there will it get to 500 degrees NO but sorry microwave can heat to 500 also just cause water wont get that hot does not mean that temperature DOES NOT EXIST ......

but if you are nuking in a sealed container, wont liquid water inside the container be converted to steam, which will build up and increase the pressure inside the container. increased pressure means higher steam temps... in my warped mind, this makes sense

>This is due to the different methods of heat transfer: air is a poor >conductor; water is a good conductor.

This is incorrect.This is because of the evaporation(condensation) heat, not because the water is a better heat conductor. You are saying it right just a paragraph further up, and then revert to the incorrect explanation...why that?

evaporation correctthe point of this was to expain that water cant get to the heat a pc can cause of pressure like i keep saying put a kettle on say a flame measure the heat of the flame around 500 degrees so since that is 500 degrees still water will break at 212 with out pressure i do see what your saying i just cant figure out how to word it